Cedar Rapids [DVD] [1 disc] [Region 1]

A childlike insurance salesman discovers his inner grown-up in this comedy from director Miguel Arteta and producer Alexander Payne. Tim Lippe (Ed Helms) sells insurance for a living. He's passionate about his career, so when the top salesman at the company dies on the eve of a big industry convention in Cedar Rapids, IA, his boss, Bill (Stephen Root), decides that Tim should take the trip to represent their company, and possibly accept a major award. Trouble is, not only has Tim never been on an airplane before, but he's in such a state of arrested development that he's even started sleeping with his former elementary school teacher Mrs. Vanderhei (Sigourney Weaver). Arriving at the convention ready to put his best foot forward, Tim hits it off with his hotel roommate Ron (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), but is soon thrust out of his comfort zone when he learns they will be sharing a room with their amoral, hard-partying colleague Dean (John C. Reilly), whom Tim has been instructed to avoid at all costs. Later, when the three unlikely roommates meet up with fellow insurance slinger Joan (Anne Heche), the chemistry just clicks. However, when the ultra-conservative president of the entire organization (Kurtwood Smith) catches Tim in a compromising position, it all starts to fall apart. Now, if Tim can just shed his illusions and finally see the truth about the people he always looked up to, perhaps he can find the courage to recapture his integrity, and return home and face the future with a newfound sense of self-assurance.

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Credits

Ed Helms, John, C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock

Critic Reviews

3 stars out of 4 -- "[A] sweet comedy with a dirty mind....CEDAR RAPIDS has something of the same spirit of FARGO in its approach to the earnest natures of its small-towners."Chicago Sun-Times

"This is a Frank Capra-meets-Judd Apatow comedy with a sweetness-laced ribaldry....REILLY is over-the-top hilarious, and Helms builds on the likability he exuded in THE HANGOVER..."USA Today

"There is something to be said for allowing yourself simple pleasures like the shtick-y sweetness of CEDAR RAPIDS....[Helms] has put a polish on the persona, layering an old-fashioned virtues and an irrepressible optimism that is hard to resist."Los Angeles Times

"The main thing about CEDAR RAPIDS is that it makes you laugh -- often and out loud..."Wall Street Journal

"Reilly has rarely been funnier as a braying, lovably vulgar life-of-the-party type, and Heche emerges from the Hollywood wilderness with a wry, immensely appealing performance." -- Grade: BA.V. Club

"[W]hile Mr. Arteta likes a dirty joke as much as the next comic director, because those laughs burble up from characters whose raucousness comes from an honest grappling with life's absurdities, the jokes sing as well as zing."New York Times

3 stars out of 5 -- "Helms is warm and likable and makes for a great nerd hero with his aw-shucks personality and surprised facial expressions. Reilly delivers another one of his trademark 'nutty pal' performances that continue to win him fans."Box Office

3 stars out of 4 -- "CEDAR RAPIDS is both hilarious and heartfelt. It's also powered by a dream cast, led by the outstanding Helms."Rolling Stone

"The film's overarching comedic goal is a prolonged sense of discomfort that, at its high points, will make you cringe and snicker in equal measure."Film Comment

3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]hanks to Helms it's never uncomfortable to watch....It's also worth staying for the end credits -- to see Reilly perform a party trick..."Total Film

"[With] uniformly entertaining performances....Arteta makes light and earthy work out of it."Sight and Sound